Former President Donald Trump's hotel company is set to sell the rights to his prized Washington D.C. hotel, according to The Wall Street Journal.
CGI Merchant Group, an investment firm based in Miami, is in talks with the Trump organization to negotiate a buying up of the lease for the hotel, located just a few blocks from the White House. CGI aims to rebrand the hotel and replace the Trump name with Hilton's Waldorf Astoria group, which will also manage the property.
The property, known as the Old Post Office, is owned by the federal government. The sale of its 100-year lease is expected to go through in the first quarter of 2022. But this comes in a time when Democratic-controlled House committees have been investigating and conducting hearings over potential conflicts of interest surrounding the former president.
The Trump Organization cites that it did not market the hotel to foreign dignitaries and cuts a check to the United States Treasury Department whenever foreign guests do stay.
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform is taking a look at the terms of the lease between the Trump Organization and the federal government for the use of the property. Even though the deal predates Trump's arrival as president, the committee is probing whether there were conflicts of interest regarding the hotel while Trump was in office.
However, it is unclear if the sale of the hotel will affect the proceedings of the committee's investigation. The committee noted that between 2016 and last year, the hotel lost more than $70 million, which led to a cash infusion toward the hotel of $24 million. But the Trumps have disputed those claims.
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